Customer Reviews

Blue-eyed Devil (Charnwood)

5 star:		(90)
4 star:		(25)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Frankly, this review is a tad biased because I am an avid fan of Lisa Kleypas's writing. She can almost do no wrong in her books for me. Fortunately, Blue-Eyed Devil proves to be almost spot-on from start to finish.

Haven Travis has grown up within the lap of luxury in her wealthy Texas home. She has tried hard to make a life for herself outside of that ritzy existence, trying to prove herself as a woman and an individual. She has fallen in love with Nick, a man her father, Churchill, does not approve in the least. But love is often blind, and in this case, love is hiding a very dangerous heart.

Against her family's wishes, Haven marries Nick. That is when the horror truly begins. Nick lacks no compunction in bending Haven to his will. Early chapters in Blue-Eyed Devil focus on that abuse: verbal, emotional, and yes, some very hard to read scenes of physical abuse. Kleypas brings you into this situation, showing you the terror Haven faces as she tries not to set Nick off. Haven has courage and she makes it out. She is now determined to forge a new future for herself, and that is where, unknowingly, love knocks again. This time, in the form of the wealthy Hardy Cates.

Hardy may be the devil to the Travis family, but to Haven, he is everything wonderful, and dangerous, in a man. She fights her attraction to him and in the process learns many new things about herself, and about love's difficult path. The danger is not over yet for Haven; she has many painful demons to battle before her happily-ever-after can start.

Despite its title, Blue-Eyed Devil is truly the triumphant story of Haven. She is a wonderful character. She is forced to face several hard realities but she does it with determination, with strength, and with resolve. Her journey is not an easy one by any means. I think Kleypas truly created a character to admire in this book. Haven may have grown up in wealth, but wealth could not protect her from everything. It is only love, family, and her own resiliency that help her keep moving forward.

Hardy is sexy, he is a charmer, and a bit of a rogue. Just the man Haven needed but not to feel complete, not to feel like a woman again. She needed Hardy for his friendship, for the desire he rekindled in her, and for the sense of peace she finds with him. Their relationship is on the one hand pure struggle as there are a lot of obstacles to overcome. It just makes their ending that much sweeter, but also realistic. Don't be fooled, Kleypas does not gloss over Haven's emotional wellbeing. This is a character who is a fighter and she comes out on top.

Blue-Eyed Devil impressed me from page one to the very end. Yes, I am a Lisa Kleypas admirer, I readily admit that. Her writing always touches a chord with me. But don't take my word on it. Give Haven and Hardy a chance. Female empowerment and the importance of love are themes Kleypas explores with depth, humility, and passion.

Haven Travis grew up in the shadow of her family's wealth and notoriety as old Texas money. Determined to prove that she wasn't the bourgeois beauty queen that people expected her to be, Haven attended Wellesley and fell in love with a boy named Nick from the wrong side of the tracks. When her father told her he would disown her if she chose to marry Nick, she was fine with it. Their love would keep them together. Haven and Nick elope to the Florida Keys and then begin their marriage, only it's nowhere near as idealistic as Haven had imagined. Before she realizes, Nick is berating her father for disowning her, Haven for her appearance and inability to iron his shirts properly, and when his verbal and emotional abuse turn physical, she knows she has to do something to get away--before she's stuck forever...

Hardy Cates is a Texas roughneck who has clawed his way to the top of the oil industry. A self-made millionaire, Hardy is no friend of the Travis family after swindling Haven's brother Gage Travis in a business deal. But when his old friend Liberty decides to marry Gage, Hardy can't pass up the opportunity to crash her wedding. When he sees Haven, he finds himself enthralled by her beauty, inflamed by her passionate nature, and desperate to find out more. When Haven elopes, two long years pass before Hardy runs into her again. But when he does, he realizes all the old emotion is still there, and the flames have been fanned over the years. Hardy is determined that he'll have Haven Travis, whether she likes it or not.

Blue-Eyed Devil is the sequel to Kleypas's first contemporary novel, Sugar Daddy. I loved that book. Loved it. Stayed up all night and was nearly late to work the next day I loved it so much. So I was skeptical about a sequel, because at the end of Sugar Daddy Hardy Cates had left a bad taste in my mouth. I needn't have worried. There are few authors who can pull emotion out of me like Lisa Kleypas.

First of all, the character of Haven Travis a well-drawn, well thought out, carefully executed heroine. It would be easy to dislike someone who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth and determined to reject it. And having an abusive husband when you know she has the resources to get herself out of it could have made Haven come off as someone who enjoyed being a victim. But that's not how it was. My heart bled for the abuse that Haven endured and I cried when she finally worked up the nerve to leave Nick. I was broken for her and could completely understand how she wouldn't be ready for another relationship anytime soon--nor should she be.

Then enter Hardy Cates, a man who I knew had it in him to be a white knight, but who hadn't displayed those characteristics at the end of Sugar Daddy. And from the way he took care of her, from the very beginning, the way he tried so hard to put the broken pieces of Haven Travis back together again, I fell in love. I don't even know why I doubted it. Lisa Kleypas has rarely done me wrong, and after finishing this books I can't even remember which ones I didn't like.

Blue-Eyed Devil is romantic, engaging, and dazzlingly well written. I've said it before and I'll say again that if all of Kleypas's contemporaries are going to be this stunningly emotional and well told then I can't fault her for going this route. Before enjoying Blue-Eyed Devil, I'd recommend reading Sugar Daddy, but just know that each is also fantastic on its own. And while you're waiting for her next contemporary, a couple of my favorite Kleypas historicals are Someone to Watch Over Me (Bow Street, Book 1) and Suddenly You.

I love Lisa Kleypas' books and really enjoyed this book, but several things kept me from giving it 5 stars.

***SPOILER ALERT***

I kept waiting for Haven to stick up for herself! If not with her abusive husband, then at least with her so-called "boss". Especially since Haven had all the power in that relationship--all she would have had to have done was hinted that she was going to quit and tell her brother why on the way out the door and Vanessa would have been kissing her feet and begging her to stay.

Why didn't she use her brain and be creative? Doormats are not attractive and they just invite continued abuse.

And believe me, if my abusive ex-husband came back into town and was stalking and threatening me, I'd make sure to carry a can of mace, a sharp knife and a cell phone on my person AT ALL TIMES!!!! (As well as at least fill out a restraining order! If worse comes to worse, I at least would want people to know who killed me when my dead body shows up in a field somewhere.)

I'd have enjoyed this book MUCH better if Haven wasn't such a wimp and would have saved herself occasionally instead of waiting for others to do it for her.

I love Lisa Kleypas's books, but I wish we could cross Haven's personality with some of Linda Howard's strong women characters who TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES!

***SPOILERS***

I'm a huge Lisa Kleypas fan. Huge. And I mostly enjoyed, but was ultimately left a little disappointed by Sugar Daddy. I was beyond excited for this one because I loved Hardy and from the glimpse we saw of Haven in the last book, I thought she had strong potential. Like Sugar Daddy, though, I finished Blue-Eyed Devil rather disappointed.

One of my disappointments was the abuse story line. I just had trouble relating. It's such a difficult topic, and I think Kleypas had a good idea there, but I found it unconvincing. The brief glimpse we get of Haven in Sugar Daddy is of this bubbling-quirky-advocate for the underdog sort of person. In fact, Gage remarked that the biggest disappointment of Haven's life was not being born disenfranchised. My point is, Haven in Sugar Daddy and Haven in Blue Eyed Devil did not match up- they seemed like two different people. And when the abuse starts, I just didn't buy that Haven would have allowed it to happen. Even the bit we see about her mother's treatment of her and her lack of "boundaries" just wasn't enough for me. I simply didn't believe that Haven would have allowed it to go on so long. It completely lost me by the time Nick renamed her to Marie. I thought she would have/should have left him right then and there. And because of the abuse story line, I felt like we never really got to know the real Haven.

The story line about her boss, Vanessa, was also really frustrating for me. First of all, she and Nick felt like two dimensional villains. They were sooo ridiculously bad it was absurd. For one character, Nick, to be this way was ok. For two, was just too much. I also became rather annoyed with Haven for being such a victim (again, because I didn't find it believeable). She didn't need the money and therefore didn't need to put up with Vanessa's crap. For her to just take it every day without protesting made it really difficult to read.

I also felt like Kleypas had a better handle on Hardy in the beginning of Sugar Daddy. What happened at the end of that book felt like a contrived plot device. He wasn't like that before, and he-from what we read of him in Blue Eyed Devil- wasn't like that after. Unfortunately, the Hardy of Sugar Daddy (at least the beginning) was missing. Like Haven, I felt like we only got glimpses of the real Hardy- more so towards the end. For most of the book, he felt kind of romance hero generic.

What was enjoyable was seeing Liberty through someone else's eyes. It was also intriguing to read about Churchill from the eyes of a daughter who had been disappointed by and sparred with him too many times. On the other hand, I missed the old Churchill. The resolution between Haven and her dad wasn't what I was hoping for, either, and also left me disappointed.

With all that being said, I still raced through Blue Eyed Devil. It's kind of a weird feeling to enjoy and yet be disappointed by a book at the same time. Perhaps it's because Kleypas is just such a good writer. Perhaps it's because I'm such a fan and am so biased in her favor. Whatever the reason, I know I'm in the minority here, but it just left me dissatisfied.

I loved "Sugar Daddy" so I was pretty excited to read this book. And, because of this, I put down the $$ for a hardcover and I regret it a lot. Should have waited for paperback. I'm a fan of Kleypas'... I've read most of her historicals and a couple of them are some of my favorite books. I also love contemporary romances/chick lit, so I was open to liking this book quite a bit.

~ Spoilers in Review ~

Unlike a few of the other posters, I didn't mind the abuse plot. I didn't mind the amount of time spent on explaining exactly the details of Haven's marriage to Nick. In fact, it was one of the only periods of the book where I felt that I was getting a picture of Haven that I could understand. [Be warned, though, that some of the abuse scenes are quite graphic.]

The part where Kleypas really lost me was the point when Haven actually leaves Nick. From that point onwards, I just didn't understand the woman. She constantly made choices that bewildered me. Also, I felt like she was - inherently - a very hypocritical character. She is always going on and on about how she doesn't want to be one of those rich girls who gets stuff handed to her on a platter. But... um... she does. All the time. And I just couldn't get over the fact that Haven wants to pretend to be a disenfranchised when - in reality - she's not. How can I emphasize with a girl like that? How can I root for a girl like that? Of course, I feel pity for her because of the abuse she suffered, but Kleypas gives us no indication that Haven learned anything from her mistakes and her horrendous marriage. She has no character development. If you compare the first page to the last page, you'll think that Haven is the exact same person on the last page as she was in the beginning. And that means that Kleypas dropped the ball somewhere. She kind of forgot to make her main character have any growth.

The book tells us that Haven is offered a job by one of her brothers (he owns a company) and she decides to get a low level position, instead of a management one, because it wouldn't be fair for her to take a better position away from someone who deserves it more. And that's when things stop making sense. She does take, however, a luxury apartment that she admits that no assistant would get. She also has her best friend - an expensive designer - decorate her apartment. Where'd she get the money for that? I'm guessing not on an assistant's salary. She also, of course, continues to lead the exclusive lifestyle that only the rich can have - goes to a fancy club with her brother and his girlfriend & she goes to a fancy party. (I will say that she didn't necessarily want to go to these places, but it's still says something about what her real identity is and how she won't accept it.) One of the problems I had, at this point, was that she wasn't just realizing that instead of running away from the fact that she's rich, she could just deal with it and make it work FOR her, instead of against her. Like her brothers. She could have borrowed some money from Gage and opened up her own business. Or gone back to school to get a Master's degree. So many doors and opportunities were available to her to stop pretending to be disenfranchised (because what good did that do anyone) and, instead, use her money to HELP the disenfranchised.

But, no. She, instead, plays the "damsel in distress" card to the hilt. Even going as far as to take the abuse heaped onto her by her evil boss and choosing to get fired, passively, rather than use her power to take down the woman. Her brother(!) ends up having to fight the battle for her. WHY? It makes no sense.

~ End Spoilers ~

To me, this is the story of a woman who is first taken care of by her rich father, then her rich brothers, and then - finally - a rich husband. She has a brief and horrible marriage in between being shuffled from one rich man to another. She can never stick up for herself and must always be rescued somehow. And, frankly, those aren't the sorts of heroines I want to read about. Hell, no.

And regarding Hardy: I don't know if he's a different character in this book or not (as other posters have said). I mean, we didn't know much of him last time, except from Liberty's POV. I would say, however, that he was very much a generic character here. The romance between him and Haven is pretty much reduced to sex. Not much else. The two never hvae a conversation that explain exactly what Hardy sees in her - if at all - beyond lust. Haven, for her part, seems to want a man who can take care of her and is strong and like her Daddy. I didn't think that he needed to be the Hardy Cates character all. They could have re-named Joe Smith and he would be, basically, every generic romance character I've ever read. Filled with massive cliches, too. I think that he suffered because the book was in first person and Kleypas couldn't get into Hardy's head properly for that reason.

I think the best way to describe this book is to say that it's a historical in a contemporary skin. The way that Haven is taken care of by all the men in her family and how she has such inability to take care of herself reminds me of the heroines of historicals. And the way that Hardy is allowed to act like the biggest jerk and it's excused (because he's rich and strong and SAYS he loves her so much) reminds me of the way that alpha-men Dukes and Viscounts are written in historicals. I don't have to point out that - a lot of the time - this scenario doesn't even work well within the historical setting. But to take it and place in a contemporary setting really does the hero and heroine a disservice.

Bottom Line: The characters are not well sketched enough to make this worth a read. However, if you must read anything by Kleypas or you loved "Sugar Daddy" so much, you have to read it, I would say that you should check it out from a library. If you must buy it, wait for the paperback. Please don't make the same mistake I did.

I adore Lisa Kleypas's writing and she is hands down my favorite author. That said, I was expecting more.

I'm intrigued by her jump into contemporary novels. I'm curious as to why some choices were made. I, personally, am not a fan of anything written in the first person unless it's a memoir and I'm rather baffled by why both of her contemporary novels have been written in the first person. I don't read many contemporaries, so perhaps it's simply part of that landscape. I'm also really interested in the different mechanisms used to create the story's framework when moving from historicals to contemporaries. In historicals, you have rigid societal structures to present roadblocks to the characters at every turn and in the contemporaries, it's interesting to see how those roadblocks are constructed. In this story, it was with domestic violence.

I adored Hardy Cates in Sugar Daddy and I was eager to see his book. But this isn't his book, it's Haven's. And I'm not really complaining about that. I adore that Kleypas really fleshes out her heroines. I love that she makes them into these gloriously three dimensional characters. I just wish there had been more of Hardy in this book. The bits we do get of him are lovely. In particular, I adored the sections that dealt with his emotional baggage. I just wish we'd seen more.

The subject matter of this book was a bit difficult for me to stomach, but that's actually praise for Kleypas's writing. I think she tackled the subject of domestic violence very, very well. I think she made Haven's journey very realistic and while I was incredibly frustrated with the things that happened to her, I think Kleypas made a very strong argument for how it is that strong, smart women can find themselves in these situations and how difficult it can be for them to leave.

I enjoyed the inclusions of Haven's therapy sessions, but I did feel that a bit too much of the story time was spent explaining the emotional and mental dynamics of abuse and abuse victims. And really, I feel sort of horrible complaining about that. Because domestic abuse is certainly a serious topic that deserves to be handled respectfully. And I believe Kleypas did handle it exceptionally well. But it was a bit too realistic for me. I found myself skimming the abuse sections because they were so painful to read.

The sections with Hardy and Haven were hot and believable at the same time. And though this book didn't have as many one liners as Sugar Daddy, there were several times I found myself laughing aloud at the snappy dialog.

All in all, it's a good read. Especially if you're a fan of Kleypas. But I did feel that there was a bit of a tradeoff and that some of the enjoyability of the story was sacrificed to make it more realistic. It's still worth the money, even in hard back. Just FYI.

I really enjoyed the book, even though I prefer historical over contempory. Found I could not put it down. Can't wait for her next book.

If you're reading this review, it probably means you're not a dedicated Kleypas fan already, and you'd like to know a little more about a book that gets a nearly five-star review. That's the position I was in when I bought it. The big problem with Amazon reviews, of course, is that people who love a book are more likely to review it than anyone else, so even with 75+ reviewers you're not getting a balanced view. I've bought a lot of customer-favorite books from Amazon, and I've been disappointed before, but I didn't write a review to share that disappointment; this time I want other readers to have a chance at a different persepctive.

If you like women-in-jeopardy stories, this book is worth considering. If, on the other hand, you prefer light-hearted escapist writing or interesting characters, complex plot lines, a distinctive voice, humor, and intelligence, stay far away. While Kleypas writes fairly well, her characters are basically 2-dimensional, and, unlike other reviewers, I don't see any growth or development in either their personalities or their relationships. In this book, Daddy's girl is a rebel, but she's rebelling in the "right," liberal-left direction at the same time that she takes advantage of her reactionary family's wealth & connections. Daddy, of course, doesn't understand her and keeps making her feel bad. Off she runs with what turns out to be a viciously abusive husband. Once she's rescued by her family (one collect phone call and a private jet picks her up), she takes a job (in a family business) with a boss who's just like her husband, and GUESS WHAT??? the husband & boss connect to almost kill her. Fortunately the perfect boyfriend she hooked up with mere days after her divorce - the man who's hot, rich, completely understanding of all her neuroses, and utterly dedicated to her (this must be the escapist part of the story) arrives just in time to save her. And they get married and live happily ever after, even though he's just as right wing as her family (which says what about her values? helping the environment is great as long as you're super rich from oil money?).

I'm glad Kleypas has devoted fans; if you're looking for an interesting new author, however, I wouldn't start here.

Haven Travis is surrounded by powerful men; her dad and her brothers. All her life she has struggled to find her niche in the Travis family and more often than not, what Haven wants and chooses, ends up singling her out, or causing a rift.

Such is the case when Haven marries who her family warns her is the wrong man. Two years later, tail between her legs, Haven comes back to the family after that marriage ends. Coming home with more emotional and physical scars than one woman should carry, she struggles, once again, to find her niche in the Travis family. All that looks to be shaky again when she finds herself falling for Hardy Cates, the Travis family enemy number one.

Haven is a heroine you can really admire and cheer for. She makes some mistakes, owns up to her share and does what she can to better herself. She doesn't make excuses and goes for what she wants. She is a smart and determined young woman that even after getting her spirit stomped on, lifts her chin and keeps on keeping on. I adored her.

Falling for Hardy Cates in Sugar Daddy, I was thrilled to see him matched up with Haven. We finally get some insight into what makes Hardy tick and Lisa Kleypas makes him even more delicious and desirable than he was in the previous book. Considering his appeal broke the loveability scales for this reader, I didn't think it would be possible to like him more, I was wrong.

The exciting sequel to Sugar Daddy did not disappoint at all. I flew through both books this past weekend and was treated two very well rounded and different tales about fabulous characters. There are some frightening and very emotionally challenging moments in this book; a few parts had me holding my breath in shock and shedding some tears. But there was also a lot of humor and the chemistry that smoldered between Hardy and Haven and the witty repartee they treated us to made it all worth while.

This book has easily shot up the ranks to one of my all time favorite reads and it is one I will revisit again and again. Enjoy!

Cherise Everhard, April 2008

Domestic violence happens to many women, so I am glad Kleypas took on the subject. She definitely did it justice,in an engaging and well-written fashion. However, the characters did a complete 180 from Sugar Daddy. I found Hardy intriguing in Sugar Daddy, but here, he was flat and two dimensional. The "romance" did not ring true at all, from either end. And what happened to Haven? In Sugar Daddy, she was a strong, rebellious young woman, trying to figure out how to be both rich and conscious of her privilege. Here, she was lost, two dimensional, and needing to be rescued, continually. So much stretched reality -- particularly the romance. I wished Kleypas had spent as much time crafting the last half of the book as she did the first. I also wish she had re-read Sugar Daddy, to provide more continuity of characters. This effort, while admirable, just didn't work for me.